Human Rights Awards

Nominations are NOW OPEN for the 2017 Human Rights Awards.

The deadline for nominations is Saturday, September 30 2017. Selections will be made by November 2017.

Held in commemoration of International Human Rights Day, these awards are meant to recognize those in our community who are actively promoting, fulfilling, protecting or educating on human rights, and making our communities a place where all belong, are included and able to participate.

Every year awards are given out to recipients, who are local human rights champions who are building Edmonton as a human rights city. In 2016, we awarded our first winner from outside of Edmonton in our efforts to recognize Albertans making an impact. This is followed by the Gerald L. Gall Award for an individual who has made an outstanding contribution and has demonstrated excellence in the protection and promotion of human rights in Canada.

Robert P. Lee, the recipient the Gerald L. Gall award in 2016, explains what the award means to him, “Right now, there’s a little more failure than success in the work that I do. Because it is so challenging, in a way I feel that I’m not worthy of it yet. I hope to help the people that I’m representing- and I’m not there yet.” The lawyer, also a children's advocate, has represented victims of sexual abuse who he felt were not being treated fairly by the legal system.

The 2016 awards recipients are

Robert P. Lee, Gerald L. Gall Award 2016

Paula Kirman.Human Rights Champion 2016

Ruth Adria, Human Rights Champion 2016

Kristina De Guzman,Human Rights Champion 2016

Roy Pogorzelski, Human Rights Champion 2016

The John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights envisions a world that manifests a culture of peace and human rights in which the dignity of every person is respected, valued and celebrated. We work to advance a culture of peace and human rights through educational programs and activities, community collaboration and relationship building guided by the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.